Shoe heel with a detachable wear lift



May 1965 E. M. s. HERR EMANS SHOE HEEL' WITH A DETACHABLE WEAR LIFT -Fil6d May 19, 1961 I, INVENTOR. 06,572 My: GHSJMAIZfiM W BY xmmenw v ag-h 3,182,49- Patented May ll, 1955 3,182,409 SHOE HEEL WITH A DETACHABLE WEAR LWT Edgard Marie Ghislaiu Herremaus, Wilrijir lez-Anvers, Belgium, assignor of one-half to Freddy Leidgens, Sclessin lez-Liege, Belgium Filed May 19, 1961, Ser. No. 111,368 Claims priority, application Belgium, Ian. 31, 1961, 477,090, Patent 599,704 Claims. (Cl. 36-42) The present invention relates to a heel for ladies shoes comprising a wear lift removably secured to the heel body.

In known heels, the wear lift or the piece which comes in contact with the ground, is usually glued or riveted to the heel proper. This is disadvantageous because it is difficult to repair the heels used at present when the wear lift is worn or has become detached from the heel.

Each time the wear lift is replaced by a new one, it damages the material of the heel. Glueing or riveting the wear lift onto the heel is disadvantageous in that when the wear lift is replaced by a new one, what re mains of the old one must be torn off, with the possibility of damaging the heel itself. In each case, when the old piece has been removed, the base of the actual heel must be cleaned before a new wear lift can be attached, thus necessitating a great deal of manipulation.

A variety of high heels with attached wear lifts, for ladies shoes have been designed in the past, but these are costly, of insuificient strength and are not of practical construction from a production viewpoint.

The invention obviates these disadvantages. To this end, the invention is characterized by a heel for ladies shoes comprising a wear lift removably secured to the heel body, means for securing said wear lift comprising a pair of elastic elements, one of said elements consisting of a conical pin, the other of said elements being a socket for receiving said pin and having a conical wall, a spring for pressing the pin and a split conical element carried by the wear lift and introduced between said conical wall and said wear lift.

Further particulars and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of different embodiments of a heel according to the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings given merely by way of example. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a vertical section through a heel for ladies shoes;

FIGS. 2 and 3 show respectively a section on the line II-II and a section on the line IIIIII in FIG- URE 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the element used for mounting the wear lift of the heel shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a section similar to that of FIG. 1, showing a slightly modified embodiment of the heel;

FIG. 6 is a section on the line 66 of FIG. 5 and FIG. 7 is a section similar to that of FIG. 6 with a slight modification.

In the various figures, corresponding elements have been indicated by the same reference numerals.

The heel for ladies shoes shown in FIGURES 1 to 7, comprises a wear lift 1, which is fixed in a detachable manner to the body of the heel 2. The body of the heel 2 may be made of wood, metal, etc. by the usual method and covered with leather 3. Into the body of the heel 2 is inserted a socket 4 containing a helical spring 5, which presses at one end against the closed top of the socket and at the other against a conical spike 6 provided with lug 7 engaging in said spring. Following the insertion of socket 4, there is inserted into the heel 2 an annular member 8 in which the spike 6 can be displaced. The

internal wall of said annular member is cone-shaped to correspond to the conicity of the said spike and is spaced from the outer surface of the spike. The wear lift 1, of the heel, contain also a yieldable hollow element 9, which is shown separately in FIG. 4. This hollow element consists of a cylindrical end 9 and a split conical portion 9" comprising four elastic lamellae. The cylindrical part 9' is mounted in the material of the wear lift l, where it is held by three projecting flanges 10 in such a manner that the element 9 and the wear lift 1 are inte gral.

The lift portion 1 is fitted to the heel Z by inserting the portion 9" of the element 9 into the duct space 11 which is formed between the inner wall of the annular member 8 and the outer surface of the spike 6. A recess 8' at the base of said annular member facilitates the insertion of the elastic lamellae of the part 9" into the said space ll. A simple push by hand against the bottom 1 of the portion 1 slides the portion 9" into the annular member 8, where it is held by the pressure of the conical spike 6 which opens out the elastic lamellae and locks them against the inner wall of said annular piece. The wear lift 1 is thereby firmly held against the body of the heel 2, an upwardly projecting annular border I" being provided on the said wear lift which fits around the base of the body of the heel 2 and its covering 3.

When the wear lift 1 has worn down sufiiciently, the interior of the element 9 becomes accessible and by inserting an ordinary awl or similar object into the cavity of the element 9, the conical spike 6 may be pushed up wards, thereby freeing the part 9" of the wear lift 1 of the heel, which can then be removed by drawing it downwards. The heel may be repaired by simply attaching a new wear lift 1, as described above.

In the event the edges of the wear lift are worn before the base 1 is sufficiently worn, a small duct (not shown) may be provided in the wear lift starting from the base and reaching the cavity of the element 9; this serves to introduce the awl or the like.

Alternatively, the element 9 may be provided with a base (not shown) by means of which the portion 1 can be detached.

The construction shown in FIGURES 5 and 6 is similar to that shown in FIGURES 1 to 3, with only small modifications. In this construction, the annular portion 8a is provided with an external threading 8" corresponding to a threading provided in the substance of the heel 2" and its base has a flange 12 to which is secured a screw head having a slot 12. The lower part of the heel is reinforced by a metal ring 13 mounted exteriorly on the portion of the heel underneath its covering.

As shown in FIG. 7, the annular member 8b may be held in the body of the heel 2 by vertical ribs 14 which prevent its twisting inside the heel.

The wear lift of the heel may, if desired, be made without the annular border I, for aesthetic reasons. In that case, it is advisable to provide one or more small projections at the base of the annular portion 8a which are embedded in the substance of the wear lift of the heel.

The invention is obviously in no way limited to the forms of embodiment described above, and many modifications are possible within the scope of the invention, for example as concerns the form, assembly and position and number of elements used for making such an im proved heel. It is also to be understood that the body of the heel and the walking portion may be made of any suitable material such as rubber, plastic etc.

What I claim is:

1. Heel for ladies shoes comprising an elongated heel body, a socket disposed longitudinally in said body, said socket having a closed top and an open bottom end porarea 10s 12 tion, a conical spike having a base and a conical end mounted in said heel body axially of said socket and extending with its conical end downwardly of said sockets open end portion, a helical spring in said socket, one end of said spring pressing against said closed top of said socket, the other end of said spring pressing against the base of saidconical spike, an annular member having an inner conical wall and an outer wall in said heel body, in which said conical spike is displaceable, the inner wall of said annular member being spaced from the outer surface of said conical spike, a wear lift, a yieldable hollow element for securing said wear lift to said heel body, said hollow element consisting of a cylindrical end formed with a plurality of laterally projecting flanges and mounted in said wear lift, said hollow element further comprising a split conical portion consisting of four elastic lamellae, said split conical portion being received in said space formed between the inner Wall of said annular member and the outer surface of a said conical spike, whereby the Wear lift is detachably secured to said heel body.

2..A heel for ladies shoes according to claim 1, in which the wear lift is provided with an annular border enclosing the bottom portion of said heel body.

3. The heel according to claim 1, wherein one end of said annular member has a bottom portion formed with a recess to facilitate the insertion of said yieldable hollow element.

4. The heel according to claim 1, wherein saidannular member is provided with an external threading and said heel body with an internal threading engageable with said external threading, said annular member having a base flange and a slotted screw head for screwing said annular member into said heel body.

5. The heel according to claim 4,'wherein said heel body is further provided with. a reinforcing metal ring.

References fitted by the Examiner UNIT ED STATES PATENTS JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

EDWARD V. BEN HAM, DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY,

. Examiners. 

1. HEEL FOR LADIES'' SHOES COMPRISING AN ELONGATED HEEL BODY, A SOCKET DISOSED LONGITUDINALLY IN SAID BODY, SAID SOCKET HAVING A CLOSED TOP AND AN OPEN BOTTOM END PORTION, A CONICAL SPIKE HAVING A BASE AND A CONICAL END MOUNTED IN SAID HEEL BODY AXIALLY OF SAID SOCKET AND EXTENDING WITH ITS CONICAL END DOWNWARDLY OF SAID SOCKET''S OPEN END PORTION, A HELICAL SPRING IN SAID SOCKET, ONE END OF SAID SPRING PRESSING AGAINST SAID CLOSED TOP OF SAID SOCKET, THE OTHER END OF SAID SPRING PRESSING AGAINST THE BASE OF SAID CONICAL SPIKE, AN ANNULAR MEMBER HAVING AN INNER CONICAL WALL AND AN OUTER WALL IN SAID HEEL BODY, IN WHICH SAID CONICAL SPIKE IS DISPLACEABLE, THE INNER WALL OF SAID ANNULAR MEMBER BEING SPACED FROM THE OUTER SURFACE OF SAID CONICAL SPIKE, A WEAR LIFT, A YIELDABLE HOLLOW ELEMENT FOR SECURING SAID WEAR LIFT TO SAID HEEL BODY, SAID HOLLOW ELEMENT CONSISTING OF A CYLINDRICAL END FORMED WITH A PLURALITY OF LATERALLY PROJECTING FLANGES AND MOUNTED IN SAID WEAR LIFT, SAID HOLLOW ELEMENT FURTHER COMPRISING A SPLIT CONICAL PORTION CONSISTING OF FOUR ELASTIC LAMELLAE, SAID SPLIT CONICAL PORTION BEING RECEIVED IN SAID SPACE FORMED BETWEEN THE INNER WALL OF SAID ANNULAR MEMBER AND THE OUTER SURFACE OF SAID CONICAL SPIKE, WHEREBY THE WEAR LIFT IS DETACHABLY SECURED TO SAID HEEL BODY. 